Bottles on the Border: The History and Bottles of the Soft Drink Industry in El Paso, Texas, 1881-2000 © Bill Lockhart 2010 [Revised Edition – Originally Published Online in 2000] Chapter 12c Chapter 12c Small Bottlers – 1920-1950s The period between 1920 and the 1950s was one of great transition. At the beginning of the period, Prohibition was in full swing, and soft drink sales boomed. By the 1930s, however, the Great Depression caused the demise of most of the small bottlers, and the national franchises became the norm. By the end of the 1950s, the era of the small bottler was over, and few bottles still carried local designations. Tickle Beverage & Mfg. Co. (1920) History E. Keith Lyons was the proprietor of the Tickle Beverage & Mfg. Co. in 1920, the only year it was listed. Lyons listed his firm, located at 904 North Peidras St., as “mfrs extracts, beverages and bottlers supplies.” He apparently came to El Paso to start the business but remained to become Service Manager for the Elite Laundry in 1921 and 1922 (EPCD 1920- 1922). A 1920 chamber of commerce publication noted that the company manufactured “soft drinks, not only in bottles but also in cask form” (El Paso Chamber of Commerce 1920:82). The firm was apparently very short lived. Border Beverage Co., Inc. (1919-1922) History Although the Border Beverage Co. did not appear in the city directory until 1920, the firm placed ads for Grapico by at least August of 1919. Thus, the firm was almost certainly incorporated in 1919 to cater to a public that (they hoped) wanted to at least recapture the taste of beer – as well as a grape drink. The company, located at 800 S. Oregon (Figure 12c-1), designated itself as “Manufacturers and Bottlers of Aerated Beverages” and offered soda Figure 12c-1 – Location of the Border Beverage Co. fountain syrups and supplies as well as bottled drinks. Under the (Sanborn Fire Insurance leadership of B. Rush Person, corporate president, Border identified Map, 1927) 625 itself as “Bottlers of aerated beverages and soda fountain syrups and supplies” and advertised drinks called Bone-Dry (brewed by the Houston Ice and Brewing Assoc.) and Graino (from the Dallas Brewery), “A CEREAL BEVERAGE.” The company’s first Graino ad appeared in the March 31, 1920, issue of the El Paso Herald. In 1921, the company touted Graino as “A REFRESHING, Figure 12c-2 – Border Beverage Co. ad (El Paso City Directory, 1921) NUTRITIOUS AND NON-INTOXICATING CEREAL BEVERAGE.” Also, in 1921, Border offered sweet apple cider and “high grade fruit punches any flavor” (EPCD 1921 – Figure 12c-2). The Prohibition-era public apparently wanted more than just the taste of beer, as the Border Beverage Company was no longer listed in the city directories after 1922 (EPCD 1920-1922). The company also bottled Grapico (EPT 8/14/1919). Benjamin R. Person arrived in El Paso about 1915 and worked for the Quick Tire Service in 1916. The following year, he made a transformation, common in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, into B. Rush Person and became the representative for the Waye Oil Tank & Pump Co., distributors of gasoline pumps, tanks, air compressors, etc. He became manager of the Border Beverage Co. in 1920 but continued to represent Wayne. The following year, he made a decision that may have been unwise. Dropping his connection with Wayne, he devoted his full time to Border Beverages, which, despite his attention, was liquidated in 1922 (EPCD 1915-1922). Bottles and Artifacts Grapico Although Riley (1956:264) claimed that Grapico was first marketed in 1922 in the midst of a grape flavor “boom,” the Border Beverage Co. advertised the drink at least as early as August 11, 1919 (EPT). The ad utilized the Grapico logo – the word, Grapico, with an overline extending from the capital “G” with SPARKLING stenciled in it. DISTINCTIVELY INDIVIDUAL was placed below the word but above NATURALLY GOOD stenciled in an underline extending from the “O.” The drink was advertised “in bottles only,” and the ad 626 bragged that it was “Deliciously Refreshing and Thirst Quenching. Like [a] Bunch of Luscious Grapes.” A later ad (EPT 8/14/1919) called it “a sparkling, refreshing and wholesome drink made from the juice of Concord grapes, granulated sugar and pure water” (Figure 12c-3). It noted that J. Grossman’s Sons of New Orleans were the manufacturers, but the drink was bottled in El Paso by Border Beverage Co. Grapico ads had ceased by mid-September of 1919. Figure 12c-3 – Grapico ad (El Paso Times 8/14/1919) The August 14 ad showed a generic bottle with a paper label. Although most of the writing on the label was indistinct, the Grapico logo is clearly visible and the price (5¢). Bunches of grapes hung in the upper left and right corners. Although ads showed a paper-labeled container, a single embossed example resides in the collection of Lynn Loomis of Albuquerque (Figure 12c-4). The bottle is embossed “GRAPICO BOT’L’G. WKS.,” but it was not unusual for a local bottler to list itself under its own name and that of the franchiser. However, Grapico did not achieve any lasting popularity in El Paso. Method of Manufacture: Machine Color: Green Size (in cm.): 19.5 (h); 5.9 (d) Primary Labeling Style: Embossed Finish: Crown Capacity: 6½ oz. Overall Bottle Design: Cylindrical with irregular debossed circles on neck Front Description Shoulder: Embossed - SPARKLING (upward slant on scroll emanating from “G”) / GRAPICO (upward slant) / NATURALLY GOOD (in underlining scroll) all under a Figure 12c-4 – Grapico bottle 627 cluster of embossed grapes; concealed in the grapes are the letters: I C O. Body: Bare possibly for paper label Heel: Embossed - EL PASO, TEXAS. Back Description Shoulder: Embossed - THE DRINK OF THE NATION (arch) / 6 ½ FLUID OZS. (horizontal) all under a cluster of embossed grapes; concealed in the grapes are the letters: I C O. Body: Bare Heel: Embossed - GRAPICO BOT’L’G. WKS Base: Embossed - 3 Manufacturer: Unknown Dating: [ca. 1919] Collection(s): Lynn Loomis collection. Figure 12c-5 – Bone-Dry label (Artefags Corp.) Bone Dry Bone-Dry was brewed by the Houston Ice & Brewing Assn., Houston, Texas (Figure 12c- 5). Although the only Bone-Dry label I have found used the abbreviation “ASS’N,” the firm was founded as the Houston Ice & Brewing Co. in 1893 (Hennech 2000:83). As noted in Chapter 8a, the firm’s beer was distributed by the Magnolia Bottling Co. and may have been the inspiration for the “Magnolia” in the El Paso company’s name. The Houston Ice & Brewing Co. filed for a trademark for Bone-Dry on July 10, 1917, and received Trademark No. 104,958 for a “non alcoholic cereal beverage sold as a soft drink.” The firm claimed first use of the mark on April 2, 1917 (Hennech 2000:95). I have no idea how long Houston Ice carried Bone-Dry, but it was certainly not a hit at El Paso. Border Beverage only advertised the brew in the 1920 city directory ad, but I could not find advertisements in the Figure 12c-6 – Bone-Dry in city newspapers (Figure 12c-6). directory ad (El Paso City Directory, 1920) 628 Graino The label of Graino – “The Only Soft Beverage” – shows the Grain Juice Co., Ltd., as the producer. Graino contained less than ½ of 1% alcohol by volume. According to the label, the firm was a subsidiary of the Keeley Brewing Co., of Chicago (Figure 12c-7). However Stuertz (1999), discussing Figure 12c-7 – Graino label a dug well associated with a restaurant, stated: (Courtesy of Bob Kay) That brick-lined puncture in the earth was once an artesian well feeding a brewery. The building dates to the late 1880s, when it was constructed as the Dallas Brewery and Bottling Works, the first such operation in the area. In 1918, the building was converted into the Grain Juice Co., which produced a non-alcoholic beer substitute called Graino during Prohibition. The company went broke in 1926, which raises a question: Who was buying Graino in sufficient quantities to keep the company afloat for eight years? Originally called the Dallas Brewing Co., the firm was founded in 1887. In March 1893, however, the Keeley Brewing Co. purchased the Dallas plant but continued to operate under a similar name: the Dallas Brewery (Hennech 2000:36-40). The company, of course, began brewing near-beer in an attempt to survive Prohibition. The El Paso area certainly was not helping boost Graino sales. Although Border Beverage probably carried Graino from its inception in 1919, it only advertised the brew in the city newspapers in 1920. One ad (EPH 9/3/1919) noted that the brew Figure 12c-8 – Graino ad (El Paso Herald was made by the Grain Juice Co. at Dallas (Figure 5/31/1920) 12c-8). 629 Antonio Patino (1922) History Antonio Patino operated his bottling works from his grocery store at 345 Tenth St. in 1922. Patino was first listed in the city directories in 1918 as a grocer who maintained his residence at the same address, probably as a room in back of the store or an apartment above it. Antonio may have been inspired to enter the bottling business by Luis Patino, possibly a brother or other relative who worked for Empire Bottling Works as bottler and inspector in 1915 and 1916 (EPCD 1915-1922). Patio was only listed for the single year. It is also possible that this was an incorrect listing, and Patio’s grocery should have been categorized as selling sodas.